Government shutdown live updates: Speaker Mike Johnson promises Congress will ‘meet obligations’ as Republicans offer new plan

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas brushed off the threat of a primary challenge Friday.

“That’s just politics, just rough and tumble ... my life isn’t built around whether I have an election certificate, my life is built around winning for the American people, winning for my constituents,” he said. “And I think we’ve done that here by saying we can deliver for the president, which means delivering for the American people, while also holding on to our commitment that we’re not going to let the debt ceiling without spending cuts.”

In his last floor remarks as leader of the Republican Senate conference, Sen. Mitch McConnell said, “Folks come to Washington to do one of two things: either to make a point or to make a difference … it’s usually not that hard to tell who’s doing which, especially in situations like the one we’re in right now.”

The White House has warned that a possible shutdown would affect the presidential transition process.

“Transition activities will be restricted,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday, according to Politico. “We’re doing everything to ensure a smooth transition, but the choice to allow a transition to move forward is in the hands of Republicans in Congress.”

The only transition activities that would remain unaffected would be those required to “prevent imminent threats to the safety of human life or the protection of property,” she added.

Rep. Jim Banks, who’s heading to the Senate in January, said, “It’s been a disappointing week, but I won’t be around in January to weigh in on House leadership, but I imagine a lot of Republicans ... [are] looking for something different.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, blasted Republicans for conducting “legislative whiplash” as they scramble to find a solution to funding the government.

“So they think that they can engage in this process of legislative whiplash and then coercion at the last minute,” Raskin said. “And they think it’s very clever, but in reality, it ends up damaging them because the American people reject that as a way to govern, and it’s enormously wasteful and profligate to shut the government United States down.”

Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York suggested Thursday night that Elon Musk would provide President-elect Donald Trump with a “windfall” if the incoming commander-in-chief does the bidding of the X owner.

The Tesla CEO was successful in his efforts to take down a continuing resolution that was set to allow the government to remain funded through Christmas, forcing Speaker Mike Johnson back to the drawing board.

Musk tweeted against the bill Wednesday before Trump did the same, pushing for it to be voted down. Speaker Mike Johnson then withdrew the bill before introducing a shorter version Thursday which was rejected even as it was backed by both Musk and Trump.

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Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are both fed up after Elon Musk torpedoed a spending deal at the behest of President-elect Donald Trump and might trigger a government shutdown.

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff criticized the fact that the legislation delayed crucial assistance to victims of Hurricane Helene and Milton in his home state of Georgia.

“Disaster relief and economic assistance for Georgia farmers would already be on the way if Elon Musk could kept his mouth shut,” he told The Independent.

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Speaker Mike Johnson has told reporters that there will not be a government shutdown.

“We will not have a government shutdown and we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for the disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck is paid over the holidays,” Johnson told the media.

He added that the Republicans have a “unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward.”

“I expect that we will be proceeding forward,” he told the press.

Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said he doesn’t have much “clarity” on what Republicans are going to do amid the government funding fight.

“The details matter. And see what they move forward. They know how to reach Leader Jeffries, but it’s clear that the easiest bipartisan solution that gets us out of this mess, and that’s what we negotiated,” Aguilar added.

Regarding whether trust between the parties has been breached after Elon Musk dove into the funding fight, Aguilar said, “I think that there has been some trust that’s been breached. I mean, we had an agreement, and they backed away from that ... but look, we want to find a solution. We want to keep government open. The best, fastest way is the bipartisan solution that we negotiated.”